Faith is a Gift that takes Practice

A wise person once said to me, "There is no stagnant place in your relationship with Christ - either you are growing toward Him, or you are growing away from Him.  I have found that statement to be true and instructive.  

It is a joy to receive the aspects of this relationship where God is pouring out His grace upon me.  I receive that willingly and eagerly... but there in lies the difficulty... as I am receiving it, He asks me to grow in my ability to demonstrate the same, through my own life, towards others.  

Tension... Choices!!! 

I'm continually learning how to live in, and live out, this faith relationship.  

Here are a couple of nuggets to ponder:

The writer of Hebrews describes faith in this way:
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.  HEBREWS 11:1

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines faith in this way:
  1) allegiance to a duty or person
  2) fidelity to one's promises, sincerity of intentions

Faith requires trusting someone or trusting in something.  

It begs the question - is the object of our faith trustworthy?  This is truly the underlying question when it comes to matters of faith.  Throughout the New Testament it is evident that as people came to know who Jesus was, they put their faith in HIM.  Following Jesus' first miracle, this was the response of the disciples:

This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. JOHN 2:11

At another point, Jesus says to his disciples:  

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  JOHN 14:12

Believing that Jesus can do these things is one element of my faith, but believing that He will do these things through me is a whole other issue.  Faith invites me to go beyond believing in Jesus, that He is who he claims to be and believing in the things that He has done... TO believing Him when he says that I will be doing the things that He has been doing.  

For this... my faith requires practice!

Mission, Jesus style is a daily response to His invitation, as He asks those who believe to step out in faith.  Small steps are one matter, bigger steps take more trust and more courage, and each step provides the space for our faith in him grows as we reveal Him to others. 

Lord, may my heart be willing to take the

steps of faith that you have set before me today!

"As."  That two-letter word caught my curiosity today.  Check back later this week!